“Never is a long time” – Jim McGuinness on the possibility of a return to Donegal

Jim McGuinness clearly misses the buzz of management.

The man who led Donegal to All-Ireland glory in 2012 (and came within a ropy kick-out of repeating the trick in his last match in charge in 2014) talks as if he yearns to be patrolling the sideline in Ballybofey when Donegal host Fermanagh on June 12th. His former assistant Rory Gallagher is now the man in the bainisteoir bib but, listening to McGuinness discuss the summer's football action, you get the impression he wouldn't mind another spin on the Gaelic football management merry-go-round himself. He is currently employed as a coach at Celtic and has just earned his UEFA B licence, but at the recent Sky Sports Championship launch, he spoke as if he was more interested in winning Sam Maguire than the Champions League. When asked by SportsJOE would he consider managing a team other than Donegal, McGuinness suggested a return to his native county was his most likely route back to the GAA.

"I think 'never' is a long time. Obviously I love my own county and if I was to manage anyone it probably would be Donegal," he said. "I think there is probably a higher possibility of managing my young fellas, at underage, than a county team. In the short term anyway. But I would never say never."

McGuinness will return to the Sky Sports studio this weekend as the All-Ireland champions get their first outing of the summer in the unusual surroundings of Kilkenny's Nowlan Park. Analysing the likes of Dublin versus Laois as a pundit is the closest McGuinness can get to the thrill of management these days.

"It fills a void for me, you're still part of a Championship Sunday. You're there early and you're preparing to study both teams, with a view to what is going to unfold. "You talk about it afterwards, so you're part of the process. So it fills a void. If I was just at home, if I was just Donegal manager one day and then watching games at home the next, it could be a wee bit of a lonely place."

Spoken like a man with an eye on an eventual return to the intercounty scene.